Nine major road corridors in Bengaluru to get Rs 400-crore facelift

Bengaluru: Nine high-density corridors in Bengaluru, including the Outer Ring Road, will get a Rs 400-crore facelift that promises to make life better for the tech hub's vehicle users and pedestrians. 

The work is slated to begin in December and could see some portions of the 109-km stretch reduced by 1-4 metres to ensure a uniform carriageway and eliminate bottlenecks.

The project has been designed under the TenderSURE model, under which select roads were previously upgraded and stand out as bright spots in the capital city, which is battling multiple infrastructural issues.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has received customary approval from the government and will start the work on December 5, senior officials said.

"We have onboarded a project management consultancy (PMC) and finalised new drawings. Within a year, you will see state-of-the-art roads," B S Prahlad, engineer-in-chief at the BBMP, told DH. 

Some of the works proposed under the project include the correction of carriageway width, creation of cycle tracks, green hedging, installation of parking lots for shared bikes and cycles, etc. As per the government order, the three companies engaged by the BBMP for taking up the works will also be responsible for their maintenance for a period of three years. 

Overall, the project includes asphalting 45 km (Rs 273 cr), developing 110 km of footpath (Rs 89.30 cr) and installing new streetlights (Rs 28 cr) along the nine corridors. However, the project does not cover three high-density corridors such as Bannerghatta Road, Sarjapur Road and West of Chord Road. 

R K Mishra, who advises the government on infrastructure-related matters, said the high-density corridors would be developed along the TenderSURE model but utilities would not be shifted below the footpath.

"Creating underground infrastructure for utilities is a time-consuming and expensive exercise. The rest of the design is on a par with global standards,” he said. 

He said around 50 km of high-density corridors would have cycle tracks integrated with the footpath. "The footpath will have bigger granites on which it is easy to walk and small tiles on stretches which see higher footfall. These granites and tiles will be laid on top of the concrete bed so that the footpaths last long," Mishra said. 

The high-density corridor project was initially estimated to cost over Rs 1,000 crore. However, the work did not take off as it was embroiled in controversy over high costs.

The project was approved by the previous Basavaraj Bommai government after it was revised to Rs 400 crore. After the change of guard, the BBMP received approval from Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to begin the work.